Wearing apparel



Sept. 20,.1938. H. LEMOINE 2,130,690

WEARING APPAREL Filed June 16, 1934. 3 Sheets-Sheet l 11v VENTOR //)/l T7 A 5/701:-

4 TTORNE rs H. LEMOINE Sept. 20, 1938.

WEARING APPAREL Filed June 16, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 (NVENTOR //VATTAsmouv;

A TTORNE Y6 p 1938. H. LEMOINEV WEARING APPAREL Filed June- 16, 1934 3Sheets-Sheet IN VEN TOR.

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Patented Sept. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

The present invention relates to wearing apparel and has particularapplication to slide fastener constructions which may be applied incombination garments, such as overalls or childrens garments.

ers with other types of fasteners such as buttons,

snap fasteners and so forth.

Due to the difficulty that slide fasteners would only permit limitedopening of the garments, and also due to the fact that large portions ofthe garments had to be closed by the old type of fasteners, buttons,hooks and eyes or snap fasteners, the use of slide fasteners ingarmentshas been somewhat limited. v

These difliculties have been particularly apparent in combinationoverall garments, where both the opening in the front of the trousersand of the shirt had to be closed by other means'than slide fastenersand the slide fastener could only be utilized to enable partial openingof the garment, between. the jacket portion and trouser portion.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved garment ofsimple and practical conthereof are connected in such a manner as toconstitute in effect a one-piece garment and vided with a separablefastener mechanism, or a slide fastener construction, which will enableready closing of the front of the jacket, of the fly of. the trousers,and ready connections between the trouser and jacket sections,preferably by the manipulation of a single sliding fastener element,which nevertheless will permit-ready opening of the various portions ofthe garments during usage.

Another object is', to provide an improved slide or fastenerconstruction or mechanism which lends itself to the utilization of asingle sliding fastener element to close the various sections of wearingapparel or other closures.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention an overallconstruction will be utilized struction in which the jacket and trousersections the jacket and trousers sections of which are proto illustratethe application of the invention, and in. this overall construction theslide fasteners are connected along the front opening of the jacketmember, the fly opening of the trouser section and along the waistlineof the jacket and trousers elements.

The fastener is preferably of the type which permits total separationbetween the jacket and the blouse element and also complete separationat the front of the jacket.

In the preferred construction, the slide fastener slider is started atthe top of the front closure of the jacket and then is continued down tothe bottom of the jacket to close the jacket. Then it is turned to theconnection between the jacket and the trousers and is run around thewaist. Then after it'has completed the connection between the slidethereupon to cause engagement of the teeth.

At the end of the strip at the front of the waist and at the end of thestrip of the slide fastener elements around the waist, a guide means ispreferably provided for enabling the slide fastener or sliding member tobe moved off one fastener element and to be started on another fastenerelement.

A snap fastening means is also preferably provided to lock the ends ofthe slide fastening strips from which the sliding cam members have beenremoved, such as at the bottom of the jacket and the end of theconnection 'of the jacket and trousers sections.

being a front elevation of the garment showing the parts assembled, Fig.2 being a similar view illustrating the parts detached from one another,

with the cover flaps of the separable connection illustrated to showportions of the latter, and Fig. 4 being a vertical sectional viewsubstantially upon the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Figures 5 to '7 show another embodiment of the invention, to which thepresent application is particularly directed, Fig. 5 being a frontelevational view of the combined garment showing the parts assembledsimilar to Fig. 1, and Figs. 6 and 7 being enlarged detail views showingthe slide fastener construction.

The construction just described is set forth in my prior filed abandonedapplication Serial No. 423,575, filed January 27th, 1930.

Figures 1 to 4 of the present application correspond to Figures 1 to 4of said prior abandoned application.

In Figs. 5 to 7 is shown a different embodiment in which the front ofthe jacket section, the fly of the trousers section, as well as theconnection between the jacket and trousers section are connected by asingle sliding cam fastener which may first be passed down over thefront of the blouse or jacket to close the same, then around the waistto connect the garment sections and then down the fly to close thetrousers.

In Figs. 5 to '7 parts functioning similarly as in Figs. 1 to 4 will beindicated by the same numerals primed.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the slide fasteners are not only provided around thewaist, as indicated by the numerals 9, IO, II but they also are providedas indicated at 20 and 2| along the front of the jacket at 2|] and alongthe fly of the trousers at 2|.

The present garment is primarily designed to overcome certaindifficulties and disadvantages existent in known one-piece overalls,such as the inability to remove or lower the trouser section withoutfirst unfastening the shirt section and disengaging the arms from thesleeves thereof. At the same time, the instant garment, by having thesections separably connected and assembled in the manner to laterappear, has all of the in-' herent advantages of a one-piece garment inaddition to the fact that either section may be used by itself, if sodesired.

By reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that thegarment comprises the trouser and shirt sections 5 and 6, respectively,which may be made of any suitable material and formed with pockets inthe usual manner, the trouser section also having loops 1 about thewaistline for receiving a belt when said section is used to theexclusion of section 6. The trouser section, in addition to the usualbutton fastenings, may also have a snap fastener 8 at the upper end ofthe fly portion.

The upper edge of the section 5 has stitched or otherwise fastenedthereto a strip 9, which in the form shown, extends entirely about thewaist portion.

The edge of said strip which pm above the end of the trouser sectioncarries the elements [0 of a separable fastener mechanism of well-knownconstruction and said elements cooperate withsimilar ones carried by astrip attached to the interior of the section 6 above the bottom edgethereof to secure the latter to the section 5 when the entire garment isbeing employed.

The separable fastener mechanism further includes the slide I2 which ispermanently con- *nected to one of the series of elements l0, thosecarried by the strip 9, for instance, and is adapted Fig. 3 being anenlarged fragmentary elevation,

to receive the other series of elements In on the strip H and cause saidseries to be interengaged as the slide is moved from the left-hand endof the fastener, as shown in Figure 2, to its fully operated position atthe right of Figure 3.

To attain the latter position, the slide moves completely around thewaist and in so doing the elements In attached to the shirt section passthrough the slide and are thus interengaged with the elements In carriedby the strip 9.

With the sectionsof the garment thus connected, the same combine to formthe equivalent of a one-piece overall.

In order to completely detach the two sections 5 and 6, the slide |2 ismoved in a reverse direction from that above described until the seriesof elements ||l carried by the strip II are entirely disconnected fromthe slide which latter still remains attached to the series of elementssecured to the strip 9.

' The sections 5 and 6 are now completely detached one from the other.

In order that the elements ll] of the separable fastener may beprevented from coming in contact with the body or undergarment of thewearer, the section 6 has secured to the inner surface thereof a flap |3which covers said elements.

This flap is preferably secured in place by the same means which isutilized to attach the strip H to the section 6 and from this point ofattachment downwardly the remainder of the shirt section constitutes anouter covering flap I l extending around the shirt and of sufiicientwidth to extend over the elements In and also cover the snap fastener 8,thereby imparting to the undergarment a neat and attractive appearance.

Preferably a single slider or cam member l2 is provided for thesefasteners l0, 2|] and 2|, and this slide fastener is started at 23adjacent the neck of the wearer to close the jacket, as indicated by thearrow 25.

It is then continued around the waist, as indicated by the arrows 25 and26. After having completed connection along the waist between the jacket6 and the trousers 5 it is continued down to close the fly as indicatedby the arrow 21. J

The reverse operation of first opening the fly is indicated by thedotted arrow 28. When it is desired to detach the jacket from thetrousers, the slider I2 is then moved from the'top of the fastener 2|around the waist, as indicated by the arrows 28 and 29.

Finally, when it is desired to open the jacket the slider is pulled upalong the front of the jacket, as indicated by the arrow 30.

The jacket shown in Fig. 5 is provided with detachable connections at23, 32 and 33 enabling initiation of the cam slider along the slidefasteners I0, 20 and 2|, respectively.

These connections to enable initiation of the sliding cam member areshown in detail in Fig. 6 at the points 32 and 33, 32 showing theconnection after it has been made and 33 showing the connection in theprocess of being made.

In Fig, 6, after the slider I2 is pulled off the waist slide fastenerIll, it passes around the hollow guiding member 34 and then onto thebeaded edge 35.

The slide fastener 2| is provided with the opposite cooperating teeth 36and 31.

It will be noted that the channel of the slider I2 indicated by thedimension arrows 38 in Fig. 6 is of suflicient magnitude to enable t eslider guide 34, after the slider has passed thereover, following theengagement as indicated at 33. A

When the slider member is in the position indicated at 33, the nose 39projecting from the end of the row of the teeth 36 of the slide fastener2| may e-inserted into the other side of the slide I2 indicated'at 40until the flat oblique end 4| of the nose contacts with the end of theguide.

Connected to the inside of the nose 4| is the hook 42 which will then beready to pass into the opening 43 in the end of the quarter-circularguide 34 upon further movement of the slider I2 to interlock the teeth36 and 31 when the slider is',pulled down to close the slide fastener 2|along the fly of the trousers 5'.

The initial connection, after being formed, is

best shown at 32 and similarly functioning parts areindicated by thesame numerals at 32. At 32, the initial end of the slide fastener issecurely locked by the hook 42 engaging the end'of the similar device asshown at 32 and 33 may be used at 23 in Fi 5.

To lock the slide-off ends of the slide fasteners when the slider camhas passed therefrom, these ends being indicated at 44 and 45 in Fig. 5,it is desirable both to provide fullness in the garment as indicated at46, 41 and 48 in Fig. 5 to prevent as far as possible stresses beingapplied to the slide-off ends of the hookless fasteners. In addition,locking means are preferably provided, as

ly spaced'opposite teeth 53 on the opposite tape 7 indicated at 49 and50,.in Fig. 6.

The locking means 49 of Fig. 6 is shown in larger scale in Fig. '1, andit is automatically opened and closed by the movement of the slider cammember I2. The locking device 50 is automatically closed, but must beopened to detach the jacket 6 from the'trousers 5' and to enable theslide fastenerto ,be placed upon the row III in itsmovement 28--29. 6

Referring to Figs. 6 and7, the end tooth 5| of the slide fastener row2Il-at the front of the jacket is provided with a double projection 52instead of the single projection of the remaining teeth. Engaging withthe tooth 52 are two closewhich are provided with inwardly facingrecesses 54. It will be noted that the lower faces of these teeth 53abut, as indicated at 55, and that they are connected to the bead 56 ofthe tape 51 .of the slide fastener 26.

When the slider I2 passes from the fastener 20 onto the guide 34preparatory to passing onto the strip III, the projections 52 of thetooth 5|.

will be forced into the recesses 54 on the teeth 53, straining the bead56 on the end of the tape 51 so that the tooth 5| will be, held by theteeth 53 with considerable force and resiliency, which may be controlledto overcome any normal tensioning which might occur at the bottom ofthe' jacket.

If desired, instead of relying only upon the resiliency of the teeth 56of the tape 51, resilient spring means of either flat or coilconstruction may be included in the construction of Fig. 7

so as to assure afirmer grip of the tooth 5| be tween the teeth 53. I

- The slider I2, in passing back from the fastener III to the fastener26 will exert a tensioning force suflicient to separate the teeth 5| and53,-

which will be much greater than any tensionnormally occurring duringwear or usage so that no particular difficulty will be experienced inopening the locked slide-off end of the hookless fastener 26. r

At the point designated 50 in Fig. '6, the fastening device consists ofa swinging latch member 6i whichis pivotally connected at 59 to a tongue60 at the end of the bead 6| of the strip II'- of the slide fasteneraround the waist of the garment. The flattened end 62 of the guide 34 isprovided with a pin 63, which is received in the recess 64 of the hookmember 58. A spring member, not shown, is associated with the pivot 59to throw down the hook 58 to engage the pin 63 immediately the slider I2has passed thereover.

Upon return of the slider I2 before the slider moves or can be movedfrom the guide circular 34 onto the fastener strap II) it is necessaryto throw the latch 58 out so that it will pass through the upper channel65 in Fig. 6 of the slider. Then the slider maybe fitted upon the row ofteeth III and moved around the waist, as indicated by the arrows 29 and29 in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that the guide straps are flattened, as indicated at62since the slider I2 must be taken off and placed on the slide fastener2|] and III with its axis coinciding with ihe axis of the fastener. Forthis reason the width of the guide 34 must decrease to approximately thedimension indicated at 66 on Fig. 6. It will be noted that the guide atits normal width has about the same width as the length of the teeth I0,36, 31, 5| and 53.

In operation, it is readily apparent that the wearer of the garment mayopen either the slide In assuming the garment, the jacket carrying theslider I2 is first assumed. The slide fastener 29 may be connectedtogether, as indicated at 32 and 33 in' Fig. 6, and the slider cam I2may then be run down to close the fastener 20.

As the slider I2 passes from the strip 26 it will lock the teeth 5|and53 together, as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7.

. Then the slider. may. be conveniently run around the guide 34 andthehook 42 may be engaged in the end of the guide 34, as indicated at'32 in Fig. 6.

The slider I2is then conveniently run around the trousers 5" and as itpasses beyond the slide fastener II) the hook 58 will snap down toengage the pin 63 and; lock the exit end of the slide fastener I0. 7

Then the rows ofteeth 36 and 31 may be engaged for operation of theslider l2, as indicated at 33 in Fig. 6, and the slider cam I2 may berun down to the position indicated in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that the combination garment construction of thepresent invention enables the wearer thereof to assemble-and detach thesections thereof with great facility and when so as sembled, the garmentproduces a very neat appearance.

In using the construction of the present invention in overall garments,the many difficulties of one-piece overall garments have been avoided,

. particularly the disadvantage of getting into or out of these garmentsbecause of the fact that they were difliculttoengage or disengage withgarment and the lengthening had to be carried out to such an extent thatwhen the garment was Worn it presented an ill-fitting appearance.Furthermore, the additional material required to secure the additionallength greatly increased the cost of production.

In old style one-piece garments, the trousers were usually worn outbefore the jacket or shirt portions, and it was usually necessary tomake a premature replacement of the entire garment, which is notnecessary in the case of the present invention.

The overall construction shown in the application is much superior toother constructions, in which either snap fasteners or buttons may beutilized for making connection between the jacket and trousers sectionsof the garment. With snap fasteners or buttons, it is evident that notonly will considerable time be lost in securing the fastening meanstogether, but in addition such fastening means will not be adequate tohold the garments together when strain is applied thereto, such as isoccasioned when bending over.

The snap fasteners become detached from each other and very often thebuttons will be torn loose, or the buttonholes enlarged to such anextent that they will no longer retain the buttons.

It is obvious that the novel hookless fastener arrangementsof thepresent invention, although particularly applicable to overallconstructions, and to one-piece combination children's garments, arealso broadly applicable to enclosures, coverings and various articles ofclothing in which it is desired to close different portions of thegarment with hookless fastening devices with a single slider elementeven though such portions are at considerable angles to eac other.

The present invention lso illustrates a most novel method of lockingboth ends of a slide fastener device, when the slider is altogether re;-moved therefrom and it also indicates how a separable slide fastener maybe initially engaged to enable the movement of a slider thereover, whichnovel features are of general application.

The garments prepared according to the present application are foundparticularly suitable for laundering since the soap which catches inbetween'the teeth during the laundering operation enhances thelubricating properties of the slide fastener and assures that it willslip through the teeth to cause engagement or disengagement of suchteeth in a much more satisfactory manner.

It is also to be understood, of course, that separate slide fastenersmay be employed for the front of the jacket between the jacket andtrousers and along the fly of the trousers.

What is claimed is:

1. An overall construction comprising separable trousers and jacketsections, the jacket sections being provided with an open front and thetrousers section being provided with an open fly, slide fastenersconnected to the front of the jacket, to

the fly of the trousers and to the adjacent upper edge of the trouser!and lower edge of the jacket, and extending around the waist of saidjacket and the jacket and trousers section to be connected together orto each other, each of said strips being provided with a fabric bead andeach of said beads being provided with and carrying a plurality ofinterengaging teeth, each tooth having opposite projections and recessesto engage with the opposite teeth of the same shape on the other strip,said strips or fasteners being entirely separable from each other, theslide fasteners along the front of the jacket and around the waist ofthe jacket and trousers sections being entirely separable and a camslider element to cause engagement and disengagement of the slidefasteners for engagement, means at the beginning of each of said slidefasteners to enable initial engagement of the slider therewith, lockingmeans at the ends of the slide fastener of the jacket and slide fasteneraround the waist to lock said slide fasteners when the slider is removedtherefrom, and guide means between the slide fasteners on the front ofthe jacket and around the waist and also between the slide fastenersaround the waist and along the front of the' fly, whereby the slidefastener may be drawn down to engage the slide fastener at the front ofthe jacket, then'turned at 90 to connect the slide fastener between thejacket and trousers section and then turned another 90 to engage theslide fastener on the fly.

2. An overall construction comprising separable trousers and jacketsections, the jacket sections being provided with an open front and thetrousers section being provided with an open fly, slide fastenersconnected to the front of the jacket, to the fly of the trousers and tothe adjacent upper edge of the trousers and lower edge of the jacket,and extending around the waist of said jacket and trousers sections,said slide fasteners each consisting of a fabric strip to be sewn to theedges of the jacket and trousers section to be connected together or toeach other, each of said strips being provided with a fabric bead andeach of said beads being provided with and carrying a plurality ofinterengaging teeth, each tooth having an opposite projection andrecesses to engagewith the opposite teeth of the same shape on the otherstrip, said strips or fasteners being entirely separable from eachother, the slide fasteners along the front of the jacket and around thewaist of the jacket and trousers sections being entirely separable, asingle cam slider element to cause engagement and disengagement of theslide fasteners said slide fasteners being connected by guide means bywhich said single cam slide may be moved from one slide fastener to theother.

3. An overall construction comprising separable trousers and jacketsections, the jacket sections being provided with an open front and thetrousers section being provided with an open fly, slide fastenersconnected to the front of the jacket, to the fly of the trousers and tothe adjacent upper edge of the trousers and lower edge of the jacket,and extending around the entire waist of said jacket and trouserssections, a single cam slider element to cause engagement anddisengagement of the slide fasteners, means at the beginning of each ofsaid slide fasteners to enable initial engagement of the slidertherewith, and-guide means between the slide fasteners on the front ofthe jacket and around the waist and also between the slide fasteneraround the waist and along the front of the fly, whereby the slidefastener may be drawn down to engage the slide fastener at the front ofthe jacket, then turned at 90 to connect the slide fastener between thejacket and trousers section and then turned another 90 to engagetheslide fastener on the fly.

4. In a garment of the type provided with a body covering portion and apants portion, said pants portion and said body portion being detachablyconnected together and capable of being opened from each other and saidbody portion and said pants portion being provided withvertical openingsalong the front thereof; the combination therewith of slide fasteners oneach of said openings, a single sliding cam member to be moved from oneslide fastener to another and guide means devoid of teeth between saidslide fasteners, said guide means consisting of a metal strip ofsubstantially the same height as the teeth of the slide fastener toguide said slide means from one slide fastener to the other.

5. In a garment of the type provided with a body covering portion and apants portion, said pants portion and said body portion being de-.tachably connected together and capable of being opened from each otherand said body portion and said pants portion being provided withvertical openings along the front thereof; the combination therewith ofslide fasteners on each of said openings, a sliding cam member to bemoved from one slide fastener to another and guide means devoid of teethbetween said slide fasteners, said guide means consisting of a metalstrip of substantially the same height as the teeth of the slidefastener to guide said slide means from one slide fastener to the other,one end of said strip being flattened to receive the cam member whendrawn off a slide fastener.

6. In a garment of the type provided with a body covering portion and apants portion, said pants portion and said body portion being detachablyconnected together and capable of being opened from each other and saidbody portion and said pants portion being provided with verticalopenings along the front thereof; the 'com-, bination therewith ofentirely separable slide fastener means to close said openings, asliding cam member and guide means devoid of teeth between said slidefasteners to enable engagement of said cam member with the initial endof said fastener, said guide means consisting of a metal strip ofsubstantially the same height as the teeth of the slide fastenerconnected to the initial end of one side of the fastener, and a nosemember with a hook to engage said guide means connected to the initialend of the other side of the fastener.

'7. In a garment of, the type provided with a body covering portion anda pants portion, said pants portion and said body portion beingdetachably connected together and capable of being opened from eachother and said body portion and said pants portion being provided withvertical openings along the front thereof ;;the combination therewith ofan entirely separable slide fastening means on each of said openings,each means having a plurality of metallic fasteners permanently securedupon a pair of flexible tapes and a sliding cam device having a centralchannel and diverging channels extending from and communicating withsaid central channel, each said means being provided with means forlocking the initial end of the fastener characterized by a plate membersecured to an end of one tape, including a metal strip having a hole anda hook having an abutment member secured to the end of the other tape toengage the other member.

8. In a garment of the type provided with a body covering portion and apants portion, said pants portion and said body portion being detachablyconnected together and capable of being opened from each other and saidbody portion and said pants portion being provided with verticalopenings along the front thereof; the com-- bination therewith of aseparable slide fastening means on each of said openings, each meanshaving a plurality of metallic fasteners permanently secured upon a pairof flexible tapes and a sliding cam device having a central channel anddiverging channels extending from and communicating with said centralchannel, means for locking the run-off end of the fastener meanscharacterized by said device including a tooth having a double ing aplurality of metallic fasteners permanently secured upon a pair offlexible tapes and a sliding cam device having a central channel anddiverging channels extending from and communicating with said centralchannel, said fastener means also including means for locking therun-off end of the fastener characterized by a hook on the run-off endof one tape resiliently pressed toward the run-off end of the othertapeand a pin on the other tape engaging said hook.

HYATT LEMOINE.

